From missiles to equal opportunity

When Christopher Calkins moved from his job as chief of Public Affairs for the 45th Space Wing at PAFB to chief of Public Affairs at DEOMI, it involved a walk down the hall. Photo by Linda Wiggins

As the former chief of Public Affairs for the 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base, Christopher Calkins has served many top generals who have led the world’s space operations in our own backyard.

Now, he’s serving military operations all over the world by making sure men and women of all walks of life have an equal opportunity to rise to those ranks.

He is the new Chief of Public Affairs for the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (DEOMI), also at PAFB. The U.S. Department of Defense joint services school offers both resident and off-site courses in areas including equal opportunity, intercultural communication, and religious, racial, gender, and ethnic diversity and pluralism to civilian and military personnel working with the American armed forces.

“It’s really an honor because everyone comes here for their training. It’s not just a DEOMI branch at Patrick,” Calkins said. “This is the world headquarters and all branches of the U.S. military service send their people here.”

Calkins’ new post is literally a walk down the hall to DEOMI, past a row of launch vehicles and missiles that will remind him of his old job. Replacing him at 45th Space Wing is PA chief Christine “Chrissy” Cuttita.